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"I apologise to the fans and the club, and for my experience I need to learn and analyse better my choice before making it.

"We need to share this responsibility but probably the job was a little bit too big for him at this point in his career."

Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani

Christiansen, the former Barcelona and Spain striker who grew up in Denmark, managed in Cyprus before Leeds appointed him last summer.

Leeds topped the Sky Bet Championship in early September, but their winless run of six matches has left them 10th, and they were knocked out the FA Cup last month by League Two side Newport in what Radrizzani has labelled a "shame game".

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"Victor (Orta, Leeds director of football) convinced me to hold on and give him one more, one more, one more... extra chances but at the end, something was missing."

Radrizzani said Christiansen "probably lacked a little bit in terms of knowledge of the football" and added: "He needs to improve in terms of communication and leadership and confidence, which is a word I used a lot with him but it didn't improve.

Thomas Christiansen (Image: Getty Images)

"I had two situations that put me in the mind to change. First, the crazy Christmas period where we had four games in eight days. I was expecting (Christiansen) to manage the group in terms of changing some players. At the end, what happened was the opposite.

"As a result we had to change 10 players and have a shame game against Newport. Congratulations to them but we didn't come onto the pitch to play. That was a message to consider a change."